Busch will join Stewart-Haas in 2014 with sponsorship from Haas Automation in a deal initially brokered by Haas without input from business partner and team co-owner Tony Stewart.

“(Stewart) has a lot of power,” Haas said Tuesday when announcing the deal. “I have to admit, I have some power, too. … He was taken aback a little bit by it.

“But I think he saw it wasn't a bad idea. In retrospect it looks like it's going to be a great idea. If we don't win any races next year, hey, I'm going to look like an idiot. I take gambles, I made a decision, and I think I'm going to be proven right. I think we're going to win a lot more races than anybody ever thought possible.”

The 2004 Cup champion signed the multiyear deal Monday, and Haas admitted that Stewart wasn’t excited about when first told because the team will have to build infrastructure to handle a fourth team.

The organization had announced in July that Ryan Newman would not return next season because the company wasn’t ready to expand while also hiring Kevin Harvick from Richard Childress Racing.

Haas said he first began talking to Busch about four weeks ago at a General Motors dinner. Then Stewart broke his leg Aug. 5 in a sprint-car accident and Haas continued to move on the deal while Stewart was pretty much unreachable.

“Tony broke his leg,” Haas said. “I didn't have really a chance to talk to Tony about it at all since he wasn't really talking to anybody. So I kind of did this on my own, probably overstepped my authority a tick there. I'm not used to having too many authorities to work with.

“I've been pretty much on my own. I did realize that Tony might be a little bit upset about it. He was a little upset.”

What did Stewart tell Haas, who five years early gave Stewart half his race team in return for Stewart accepting the responsibility of running the organization and finding sponsorship?

“I think he actually said, ‘You need to wait a while (about a fourth team),’” Haas said. “I kind of made an offer to Kurt here, I don't know if he's going to take it or not, and if he takes it, I'm not backing down. That's where we were.”

It was a pretty simple decision for Busch, who is on the Chase for the Sprint Cup bubble with single-car Furniture Row Racing. That team has never made the Chase and doesn’t have the depth of SHR, which has won 18 races and the 2009 championship since Stewart became co-owner in 2009.

Busch joins Harvick, Stewart and Danica Patrick as part of one of the sport’s elite organizations – something that was viewed as unlikely after a series of emotional outbursts that ended his tenures at Roush Racing, Penske Racing and included a one-race suspension last year at Phoenix Racing.

Busch gets the benefit of having no sponsor to answer to — with the sponsor primarily being the team owner – and the strength of SHR, which has a technical alliance with Hendrick Motorsports.

“It was the opportunity with the people that we're going to bring onboard here and with the equipment that Gene and Tony use, which is Hendrick engines and Hendrick chassis,” Busch said.

“That was the difference-maker. Obviously having teammates such as Tony to work with, Harvick, and Danica. When you have less responsibilities and it's more about the car, that's the fun part of it.”

The performance of Busch with an organization that previously had not been a top-20 organization was just another testament to his ability. He already has won 24 races and the 2004 Cup title.

“I kind of like his attitude,” Haas said. “He's passionate about what he does. He likes to win. He's not afraid to get in people's faces.

“I think that kind of reflects my company a little bit. … The fact that he runs into his friends at 200 miles an hour once in a while, has a few tough words with that, they all do that, so I don't really have any problems with that either.”

The team does not have a car number, a crew chief or crew yet. Haas said he hopes to have a second building on the team’s land built in six to nine months to have space for cars. The organization gets its chassis and engines from Hendrick Motorsports.

Stewart was unable to attend the news conference because he is pretty much limited to his home and the doctor’s office.

“Tony was very much in favor of the fourth team,” Competition Director Greg Zipadelli said. “What Tony was against was us trying to get it done for next year. … When we all met and talked about it and assured (Stewart) we would do our best to make sure things didn't slip through the cracks, it took him a couple days to process it. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’

“But it's an opportunity of a lifetime for a race team to have a caliber of a driver like this. I know he's very excited about it now. But it's a little overwhelming when you're first hit with it.”